Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be located at the following link:-

https://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=504&MId=4331&Ver=4

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

The Committee was requested in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to determine that items 11.1 (Aberdeen Performing Arts Business Plan 2018-2021) and 11.2 (Tender for SPECTRA – Light Festival) on today’s agenda be considered with the press and public excluded.

The Committee resolved:

in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of items 11.1 (Aberdeen Performing Arts Business Plan 2018-2021) and 11.2 (Tender for SPECTRA – Light Festival) so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in paragraphs 6 and 8 of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

Members were requested to intimate any declarations of interest in respect of the items on today’s agenda.

Thereafter, the following declarations of interest were intimated:

(i)            Councillor Nicoll declared an interest in relation to item 10.5 (Cordyce School Consultation Timetable) by virtue of his previous appointment to the Scottish Government’s School Closure Review Panel.  Councillor Nicoll considered that the nature of his interest did not require him to leave the meeting and therefore chose to remain in the meeting for consideration of this item;

(ii)          Councillor Nicoll declared an interest in relation to item 11.1 (Aberdeen Performing Arts Business Plan 2018-2021) by virtue of his previous appointment as a Council appointed Director to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts.  Councillor Nicoll considered that the nature of his interest did not require him to leave the meeting and therefore chose to remain in the meeting for consideration of this item;

(iii)         Councillors Boulton, Duncan and Imrie declared an interest in relation to item 11.1 (Aberdeen Performing Arts Business Plan 2018-2021) by virtue of their positions as Council appointed Directors to the Board of Aberdeen Performing Arts but all chose to remain in the meeting as Aberdeen Performing Arts was a body being a company established wholly or mainly for the purpose of providing services to the local authority, and which had entered into a contractual arrangement with the local authority for the supply of goods and/or services to the local authority, as set out in paragraph 5.18(2)(d)(i) and (ii) of the Councillors' Code of Conduct; and

(iv)         The Convener declared an interest in relation to item 12.1 (Review of Residential Childcare) by virtue of his previous employment with Action for Children.  The Convener considered that the nature of his interest did not require him to leave the meeting and therefore chose to remain in the meeting for consideration of this item.

The Committee had before it the minute of its meeting of 1 June 2017, for approval.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it a statement of pending and outstanding committee business which had been prepared by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services.

The Committee resolved:

(i)            in relation item 1 (Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014), to request that the date on which the letter was sent to the Scottish Government be added to the business statement and to request the Head of Children’s Services to advise Councillor Nicoll, by way of email, of the reason for the delay in the letter being sent to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education;

(ii)          to delete items 3 (Review of Residential Childcare), 4 (Attainment Fund and Pupil Support Assistant), and 6 (Future Plans for Pupil Support Services and Cordyce School) subject to the decisions taken later on the agenda; and

(iii)         to otherwise note the updates provided.

The Committee had before it a tracker of future committee business.

The Committee resolved:

to note the information contained in the committee report tracker.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of the meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee of 26 January 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided a summary of the 2016-17 Annual Performance (Statutory Performance Indicator) outcomes covering the work of the Education and Children’s Services Directorate.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)       note the content of the report; and

(b)       note the detailed Education and Children’s Services 2016-17 Annual Performance (Statutory Performance Indicator) outcomes contained within Appendices A and B of the report.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of the meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee of 1 June 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Head of Finance which advised members of the full year forecast position of the Education and Children’s Services Directorate for the financial year 2017/18.

The report recommended –

that the Committee note the projected revenue and capital position for Education and Children’s Services as detailed in Appendix 1.

The Committee resolved:

(i)            to approve the recommendation;

(ii)          to instruct the Director of Education and Children’s Services to advise Councillor Cameron, by way of email, of the current fundraising figure for the Art Gallery redevelopment; and

(iii)         to instruct the Head of Finance to advise all members of the Committee, by way of email, which budget the spend on the Music Hall refurbishment was reported through.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which sought approval to implement the draft Anti-Weapon/Knife Crime Policy in Aberdeen City Council schools.

The report recommended –

that the Committee approve the Anti-Weapon/Knife Crime Policy to be implemented immediately.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which sought approval to submit the statutory Draft Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan to the Scottish Government by 29 September 2017.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)       approve the Draft Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan attached as Appendix A to the report;

(b)       instruct the Director of Education and Children’s Services to submit the Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan to the Scottish Government by 29 September 2017; and

(c)        instruct the Director of Education and Children’s Services to present the final Early Learning and Childcare financial plan attached as Appendix B to the Education and Children’s Services Committee on 16 November 2017 for approval.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to approve the Draft Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan attached as Appendix A to the report;

(ii)        to delegate authority to the Director of Education and Children’s Services, in consultation with the Conveners of the Education and Children’s Services Committee and the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee, to submit the proposed Draft Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan to the Scottish Government by 29 September 2017, along with a covering letter seeking confirmation that the financial costs of implementation of the Plan would be fully covered by the Scottish Government and highlighting that the figures contained in this version of the Plan were provisional;

(iii)       to instruct the Director of Education and Children’s Services to present the updated Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan to the Education and Children’s Services Committee at its meeting on 16 November 2017 for consideration of the Plan at this time;

(iv)       to note that the Director of Education and Children’s Services would submit a further version of the Early Learning and Childcare Delivery Plan to Committee in 2018 following the period of scrutiny by the Scottish Government; and

(v)        to instruct the Director of Education and Children’s Services to submit a report to the Committee in 2018 providing an update on progress and plans for workforce planning for early learning and childcare.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which sought approval to implement the revised Children Missing from Education Policy in Aberdeen City schools.

The report recommended –

that the Committee approve the refreshed Children Missing from Education Policy contained at Appendix A and that this be implemented immediately.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendation.

With reference to article 3 of the minute of the meeting of Council of 22 February 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which advised of the allocation of the additional funding of £976,000 for Pupil Support Assistants.

The report recommended –

that the Committee note how the resource of £976,000 had been allocated, as detailed at section 4 of the report, in order to raise attainment by meeting the needs of children and young people.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendation.

With reference to article 14 of the minute of the meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee of 1 June 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided an update on the planned timescale for the statutory public consultation on the future of Cordyce School, following advice received on this from Education Scotland.

The report recommended –

that the Committee agree to the amended timetable for the statutory public consultation on the proposal to close Cordyce School, and instruct the Head of Education to report to the Committee on the outcome of the consultation at its meeting in January 2018.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendation.

In accordance with the decision taken at article 1 of this minute, the Committee considered the following two items of business with the press and public excluded.

The Committee had before it a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services which sought approval of the Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) 2018-2021 Business Plan.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)       approve the APA three Year Business Plan for the Council’s interest; and

(b)       note the contribution that APA made to the delivery of the 365 Events Programme including Granite Noir and True North.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which sought approval (1) to tender for a provider to deliver SPECTRA, festival of light, in 2019 with the option to extend for 4 further periods of 1 year depending on available budget and (2) of the total estimated expenditure.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)       delegate authority to the Cultural Policy and Partnerships Officer following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to undertake a tender process for the procurement and thereafter award of a contract for the delivery and programming of SPECTRA, the festival of light, in 2019 with the option to extend for 4 further periods of 1 year depending on available budget;

(b)       delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to conclude a contract with the successful bidder;

(c)        approve the total estimated expenditure of the sum detailed in the report per annum for a maximum period of 5; and

(d)       note the proven benefits of the festival as outlined in the body of the report.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to approve the recommendations (a), (b) and (d); and

(ii)        to approve the total estimated expenditure of up to the sum detailed in the report per annum for a maximum period of 5 years.

The Convener advised that this was Mr Rafferty’s last meeting as parent representative – secondary schools, and took the opportunity to thank him for his valuable input throughout his tenure on the Committee.

The Committee resolved:

to echo the comments of the Convener.

At this juncture, the external members of the Committee departed.

With reference to article 5 of the minute of the meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee of 1 June 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which provided an update on the progress of the Children’s Residential Service Redesign, originally outlined and agreed at ECS Committee on 17 November 2016.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)       note the progress in relation to progressing the staffing restructure within the Children’s Residential Service; and

(b)       note the impact of change on work practices and implications for improved outcomes.

The Committee resolved:

(i)         to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)        to note that the Head of Children’s Services would provide a service update on the review if necessary.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which (1) advised of the resource implications arising as a result of responding to statutory notices issued by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and (2) highlighted the potential financial and legal implications for the Council arising from the Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Scotland) Act 2017.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)       note the resource required to support Aberdeen City’s response to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry;

(b)       note the financial and legal implications for the Council arising from the Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Scotland) Act 2017.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

- COUNCILLOR JOHN WHEELER,Convener